Romney Stays on the Offense With Gingrich

Newt Gingrich, left, and Mitt Romney during a commercial break at Thursday's debate. Other moments were less agreeable.Credit
Matt Rourke/Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mitt Romney, facing his greatest challenge of the campaign so far, relentlessly pressed Newt Gingrich on Thursday night in their final debate before the Florida primary, seeking to regain the offensive against an insurgent challenge that has shaken his claim to inevitability.

On immigration, personal finances and the grand ideas that have been the trademark of Mr. Gingrich’s candidacy, Mr. Romney gave his rival no quarter, giving prime time voice to his campaign’s all-out, round-the-clock assault on Mr. Gingrich here.

In a debate in which Mr. Romney could ill afford to allow Mr. Gingrich another triumphant night, he delivered sharp lines that gave him an advantage usually held by Mr. Gingrich: applause from the audience.

After being accused in so many debates of pandering, this time it was Mr. Romney accusing Mr. Gingrich of playing to the crowd with his proposal for a lunar colony, which Mr. Romney said may be popular around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida but unrealistic in practice. “I spent 25 years in business,” Mr. Romney said. “If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I’d say, ‘You’re fired.’ ”

And, clearly prepared with reams of research, he frequently turned Mr. Gingrich’s attacks back against him. When Mr. Gingrich pressed Mr. Romney for having investments in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and with Goldman Sachs, “which is today foreclosing on Floridians,” Mr. Romney was ready with an attack of his own.

“Mr. Speaker, I know that sounds like an enormous revelation, but have you checked your own investments?” he asked. “You also have investments for mutual funds that also invest in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Photo

The debate included Rick Santorum, left, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.Credit
Marcus Yam for The New York Times

The most intensive attack on Mr. Romney came not from Mr. Gingrich but from Rick Santorum, who insisted that Mr. Romney’s health plan for Massachusetts when he was its governor was no different from President Obama’s and that as a result Mr. Romney would be unable to combat the president effectively on the issue if he became the Republican nominee.

Mr. Gingrich started the week with all the momentum here after his victory in South Carolina. But he has subsequently come under relentless pounding from the Romney campaign and its supporters, a battering that appears to have had some impact.

Throughout the 19 debates, Mr. Gingrich has won over debate audiences on site and in their living rooms with an assortment of one-liners aimed at the establishment and, frequently, the news media. At times Thursday night he turned to those techniques, but to little seeming effect.

And Mr. Romney gave no ground, even when Mr. Gingrich at one point seemed willing to do so. The moderator, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, effectively invited Mr. Gingrich to critique Mr. Romney’s release this week of his tax returns, which disclosed that his blind trust included a Swiss bank account that was shut down in 2010.

“How about if the four of us agree for the rest of the evening we’ll actually talk about issues that relate to governing America?” Mr. Gingrich responded when Mr. Blitzer asked him if he was satisfied that Mr. Romney was sufficiently transparent in releasing his tax returns.

But after Mr. Blitzer noted that Mr. Gingrich had made an issue of Mr. Romney’s personal wealth earlier this week, Mr. Romney said sternly, “Wouldn’t it be nice if people didn’t make accusations somewhere else that they weren’t willing to defend here?” Inviting a fight in which he used offense as defense, as he did many times during the course of the night, he told Mr. Gingrich, “I think it’s important for people to make sure that we don’t castigate individuals who’ve been successful.”

The few moments of levity were often left to Representative Ron Paul. Asked whether his health was strong enough for him to serve as president, considering that at age 76 he would be the oldest president of the United States, he did not hesitate.

“I’m willing to challenge any of these gentlemen up here to a 25-mile bike ride any time of the day in the heat of Texas,” Mr. Paul said, pausing as the crowd erupted in laughter. “You know there are laws against age discrimination, so if you push this too much, you better be careful.”

And Mr. Santorum seemed to use every opportunity to recapture some of the excitement surround his candidacy into — and out of — the Iowa caucuses, starting with an introduction of his 93-year-old mother, who was in the audience, and continuing with forceful attacks against Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney for their positions on health care and for “playing petty personal politics.”

“Guys, leave that alone and focus on the issue,” Mr. Santorum said, drawing approval from the Republicans seated in the audience.

He raised his voice as he repeatedly insisted that the health care plan Mr. Romney signed into law as Massachusetts governor was no different than the national plan Mr. Obama signed.

“In Massachusetts, everybody is mandated as a condition of breathing to buy health insurance,” Mr. Santorum said. “And if you don’t, you have to pay a fine.”

Mr. Romney sought to brush back his opponent, saying: “It’s not worth getting angry about.” As the crowd fell silent, he said that he would move to repeal the national health care plan.

Perhaps the sharpest and most personal moment between Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich came toward the start of the debate, over immigration and a suggestion that Mr. Gingrich’s campaign had made in an ad — which it eventually pulled down — calling Mr. Romney “anti-immigrant.”

“That’s simply inexcusable. It’s inexcusable,” Mr. Romney said, taking an opportunity to remind voters here that his father was born in Mexico. He added, “The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don’t use a term like that.”

Referring to Mr. Romney’s comments at an earlier debate that some immigrants would “self-deport” under tougher rules, Mr. Gingrich said his immigration policy would “allow the grandmother to be here, legally, with some rights,” so that “he or she can finish their life with dignity within the law.”

Mr. Romney shot back, “Our problem is not 11 million grandmothers.”

Mr. Romney’s performance was hardly flawless. He did not take responsibility for his own investments, including those that are intertwined with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Goldman Sachs. In a moment that could be repeated again and again, he said he had a “blind trust” and declared: “First of all, my investments are not made by me.”

When Mr. Blitzer asked him about a radio ad his campaign is running against Mr. Gingrich that alleges Mr. Gingrich had said Spanish was the “language of the ghetto,” Mr. Romney said, “I doubt that’s my ad, but we’ll take a look and find out.”

Mr. Blitzer soon after chimed in, “We just double-checked: It was one of your ads; it’s running here in Florida, in — on the radio, and at the end you say, ‘I’m Mitt Romney, and I approved this ad.’ ” (Mr. Gingrich complained that the ad took his comments “out of context” and won over the audience when he said emphatically, “I think English should be the official language of government, and that’s why I think every young American should learn English.”)

At the end of a bruising day, when the full breadth of the Republican establishment descended upon him, Mr. Gingrich seemed to concede that he was outgunned. “Well,” he said, “it’s increasingly interesting to watch the Romney attack machine coordinate things.”

Richard A. Oppel Jr. contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on January 27, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Romney Stays On the Offense With Gingrich. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe